1. Field
This invention relates to portable book stands adapted to retain a book or other reading or visual material in an open position before a reader or viewer. More particularly, this invention is directed to a book stand which is portable.
2. Statement of the Art
Book stands of various configurations are known in the art. In general, these book stands have a common characteristic of being able to support a book in an open configuration whereby the reader may read the book without having to hold the book in his hands. This hands-free operation may be solely for the purposes of reading comfort. Alternatively, the capacity to maintain the book in an open configuration, without involvement of the user's hands, may be a desirable feature should the user be engaged in some type of activity at the time of reading the book that requires the use of his hands, e.g. the assembly of a device or structure based on instructions contained in the book.
While book stands have been known for many years, recent efforts in the art have been directed towards providing book stands which are structurally strong enough to support a book, yet sufficiently lightweight to permit the user to readily pick up the book stand and relocate it to an alternate location. Many of these book stands have incorporated novel-type structures which support or stabilize the book stand on a support surface. Other structures have been suggested which are directed towards providing an adjustable means of holding books of various widths and configurations.
A representative book stand which has been suggested in the art is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,418 (Kellner). The Kellner device discloses a generally "U"-shaped, uprightly mounted panel having a support brace hingedly mounted on its rear surface. The support brace extends outwardly in an angulated fashion from the upright panel to contact the ground and form a support to hold the "U"-shaped panel in position. A laterally extending shelf is mounted, by means of brackets, on the front surface of the "U"-shaped panel. The shelf is adapted to support a book positioned thereon and defines therein a plurality of interconnected channels. A pair of peg type members is slidably mounted within those channels to be positioned in a variety of locations on the shelf. Each peg is of sufficient height to engage against one side of an open book, positioned on the shelf, and retain that book in abutment against the "U"-shaped upright panel. Owing to the ability to reposition the peg in the channels, the user may reorient the peg to hold books of various widths.
Another book shelf configuration is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,616 (Radtke). This patent illustrates a book stand having a support surface which is supported at an acute angle to an underlying support surface by means of an uprightly mounted support which is conjoined at its lower end to a laterally extending support. Each of these two supports are connected to an angulated book supporting surface along their respective edges to form a generally triangular cross sectioned structure. A support shelf mounted at a generally orthogonal orientation to the angulated book support surface is fixedly mounted to the support surface proximate its lowermost end. The support shelf forms a means of supporting and retaining the book on the angulated support surface.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,624 (Granada), a planar book support surface having a support shelf is adapted to be supported above an underlying surface by a laterally extending member which is hingedly mounted to the rear surface of the book support surface. The extending member is adapted to be adjustable in length, whereby the user may adjust the orientation, i.e. the angle of the planar surface to the underlying surface by adjusting the length of the extending member. The extending member includes a ratchet-type adjustment structure wherein a first member of the extending member is slidably received within a sheath-like second member. The first member defines a plurality of teeth along one edge thereof. The sheath member includes a ratchet type lever which is adapted to be manually intercooperated with the teeth of the first member whereby the user may adjust the positioning of the sheath over and about the first member by engaging the ratchet lever between a pair of selected teeth thereby locking the sheath in a fixed relationship with the first member and hence adjusting the orientation of the planar support surface on an underlying surface such as a floor or table top.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,593 (Odenath), a book support includes a generally planar support surface having a laterally extending shelf, apparently fixedly mounted thereon to extend orthogonally outward. A pair of outwardly extending supports are mounted on the rear surface of the planar book support surface by means of a pair of channel supports which extend longitudinally along the length of the planar book support surface. Two generally planar panels, one panel positioned within the open channel of a respective support extending outwardly from the planar book support surface, are engaged and supported within a respective support bracket adapted to engage an underlying surface such as a table top.
Of the many types of book stands which have been disclosed in the art, some attempts have been made to provide a book stand which is not only portable, but furthermore is also foldable whereby the user may, after having used the book stand, be able to fold the book stand into a rather compact structure which may be more suited for storage. A book holder having this directed purposed is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,416 (Choi). In this particular construction a generally quadrilateral planar support surface is folded proximate its one end to form an outwardly extending shelf. An auxiliary support member is fixedly mounted on that shelf to extend downwardly from the extended shelf to engage the underlying support surface. A pair of laterally extending wings are mounted on the rear surface of the planar book support surface to extend outwardly therefrom and engage an underlying surface. Each of the wings defines a slot therein which is configured to receive a respective tab of a laterally extending planar member which is adapted to extend between the two wings and hold the wings in a preselected orientation vis-a-vis each other and the planar book support surface.
Another portable book stand is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,146 (Raggiotti). In this particular construction a planar piece of stock is cut and creased into three portions which can be either folded flat or assembled into a three-dimensional configuration adapted to support a reading book.
A similar collapsible book stand is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,724 (Gauget). In this particular construction a generally flat planar panel is cut and creased along a plurality of selected portions thereof to provide a collapsible stand adapted for supporting books or other reading material.
While the aforementioned descriptions illustrate a number of previously disclosed book stands it should be recognized that considerable attention has been directed in this particular art to devising and suggesting various alternative book stand configurations. Other book stand type structures which may also be illustrative of efforts in this particular area include the following: U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,271 (Nanso); U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,214 (DeLuca); U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,807 (Manso); U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,414 (Robertson); U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,946 (Larre et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,527 (Smith); U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,289 (Kanocz); U.S Pat. No. 4,105,182 (Jacobson); U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,364 (Charney et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,605 (Parekh); U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,037 (Johnson et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,465; U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,989 (Bannister Hatcher); U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,435 (Roberts); U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,675 (Sankey); U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,075 (Capper); U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,074 (Mulvaney); U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,074 (Strong et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,580 (Ezekoye).
While the aforementioned structures and configurations have suggested a myriad of ways of providing book stands which are portable, and in some instances collapsible for storage purposes, there continues to be a need for a book stand which is at once inexpensive to manufacture, easy to assemble and use, and is sufficiently lightweight so as to be readily portable. Furthermore, there continues to be need for a book stand which is readily collapsible and or foldable into a configuration which is suitable for ease of storage, i.e. requiring a minimum of storage space for its maintenance.